Inspired by Anna from In the Next 30 Days, I am tackling a new 30 Day Challenge each month. Click below to see what Anna’s up to this month. It’s super fun – you definitely won’t want to miss it! Keep an eye out for a guest post on Anna’s blog by yours truly some time this month.

I mentioned last week that I intended to tackle the Whole 30 for my September challenge. I spent last weekend at the Santa Barbara Avon Walk for Breast Cancer so it wasn’t entirely possible to eat Whole 30 compliant foods. I decided to cut myself some slack for once and start today rather than the 1st of the month. So there. Don’t judge me.

What is the Whole 30?

It’s outlined below, in a nutshell. There are a whole ton of details if you want to head over the the Whole 9 blog and check them out.  This graphic will give you a general idea of what I’ll be eating (and not eating) for the next 30 days.

Look like a challenge? Well, that’s kind of the point isn’t it? This way of eating isn’t something that I could follow exactly and forever, but it’s great for getting back on track, healing my cranky gut and getting as healthy as possible before I need to walk 39.3 miles in Charlotte next month.

The biggest obstacles of the Whole 30 for me are likely to be:

• cutting out dairy completely (even butter in my coffee – gasp!)
• being strict paleo, in general
• no alcohol

The rest of it isn’t that far off from how I eat most days.

Considering a Whole 30 and want your own printable Whole 30 cheat sheet? Click on the image above or the graphic below to get the printable PDF.

Check back in later this month for an update on my 30 day challenge. I’m planning to test some Whole 30 compliant recipes and hopefully find some new favorites to add to our weekly rotation.